Stouffville mayor angered by MP's 'mud slinging'

Calandra questions council's leadership on cell tower

Stouffville Sun-Tribune
March 21, 2014
By Sandra Bolan

Paul Calandra has called out Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville council for “trying to absolve themselves of any decision at all” on the proposed Rogers’ cell tower for downtown Stouffville, at 20 Freel Lane.

“Town council have washed their hands because they don’t make any decisions,” Mr. Calandra, MP for Oak Ridges-Markham and a Stouffville resident, told yorkregion.com/The Stouffville Sun-Tribune today.

“Due to the lack of leadership on this matter, I am prepared to request that the process be delayed in order to hold a proper consultation with town residents and businesses,” he said earlier in a media release.

During Tuesday afternoon’s meeting, council received and accepted a report by town staff, for information only, indicating Rogers Telecommunications completed the public consultation process, as requested, by the municipality.

The town is a “commenting agency” when it comes to the approving or denying of the proposed 30-metre tower as it is “within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government”, stated the staff report.

“People elect them to have a comment,” Mr. Calandra told yorkregion.com/The Sun-Tribune, adding council passed resolutions stating their stance on the Pickering Airport, Rouge Park and Canada Post’s new bulk mailing regulations, all of which do not fall within their jurisdiction.

A number of years ago, Whitchurch-Stouffville set up a process by which any telecommunications company wishing to erect a tower within the municipality must first hold a public meeting.

Rogers held one for 20 Freel Lane Jan. 16.

Only one person attended the meeting, according to Mayor Wayne Emmerson.
Mr. Calandra called it “a modest effort ... to notify and consult the community of such a potentially intrusive development”.

The only indication there was opposition to the application was a letter detailing the reasons for the chosen location, from a Rogers representative to Shelley Gould of Diversicare Canada Management Services. She is the regional manager for Stouffville Creek Retirement Residence.

Stouffville Creek is located beside the proposed tower location, just north of Main Street’s Stouffville train station.

A petition against the tower’s location, with the signatures of 50 Stouffville Creek Residents, was presented to council Tuesday.

There are 122 residents in the retirement home.

This is in direct contrast to a tower on St. John’s Road Rogers tried to install in 2011.

Residents were so outraged by its location, they filled the council chambers and let their stance be known.

Whitchurch-Stouffville council did not approve the application, despite Rogers having met the municipality’s public consultation requirements.

The tower was never constructed.

Mr. Calandra not only opposes the town’s process in approving the tower, but its location, which is 400 metres from his Main Street office.

He said the tower will be visible from all areas of the municipality and affect the future development of downtown.

The MP told The Sun-Tribune he rarely gets involved in local politics but is “really angry on this one” because “the town itself didn’t have the courage to stand up and say no”.

“I always thought all levels of politicians worked together on issues and kept the mud slinging out of the press. In all my years as mayor I have never had a MP or MPP send out a press release like this before,” Mr. Emmerson wrote in an email to Mr. Calandra, which the mayor forwarded to yorkregio.com/The Stouffville Sun-Tribune.

In an ironic twist, in Mr. Calandra’s March 2014 newsletter, he touts the federal government’s recent policy change regarding Canada’s Antenna Tower Sitting Policy to “ensure that local residents and municipal governments are more aware than ever of the role they can play when new antenna towers are proposed”.

The changes include the requirement to consult with communities, municipal councils, local land-use authorities and residents on installations before they go forward; the tower must be built within three years of the consultations and residents have to be informed of upcoming consultations and provided an opportunity to contribute.

Since council’s decision, Mr. Calandra said his office has been inundated with phone calls from constituents on the matter.